Foxconn Ethical Issues

Instead of relying only on domestic workers, many companies also outsource some of their labor into foreign markets. This practice can have negative effects on the economy overall, individual businesses can often benefit from this practice. Outsourcing offshore can allow companies to tap into foreign markets and expand their businesses.

Luke is an employee of ABC Company. He has been assigned to a construction of an adult entertainment retail store within a neighborhood his brother, Owen, lives in. The development of the retail store has not been made public yet and will be announced one month from today. This announcement will decrease the property values of the surrounding areas significantly. Owen is trying to sell his house. He told Luke that he recently received an ‘okay’ offer. However, in hopes that a better offer might be present itself in a few years after the real estate market improve, he has not taken the offer yet. Luke is very close to his brother, which makes him concerned about his confidentiality obligation to ABC Company.

4. Consider the bill that Representative Engle and Senator Harkin attempted to enact into a law, but which never became a law because of the lobbying efforts of the chocolate companies. What does this incident show about the view that “to be ethical it is enough for business people to follow the law “?

There are two stakeholders in this situation and they are: the companies Apple and Foxconn as well as the Chinese government. Apple has obligations to their employees both domestic and global. They need to be mindful that a corporation is only as good as its products as well as, its image. They need to be mindful that since its headquarters are in the United States, it should do all that it can to maintain a positive image. It is also important to make sure that the products they sell are quality products while keeping the price as low as possible. Foxconn has a stake in its people and the products they export. The unfair and inhumane working conditions forced the government to step in. Foxconn also needs to be mindful of the issues presented previously for Apple (the difference they are headquartered in China). The fact that labor violations were taking place, China’s government had an obligations to its people. They need to protect their citizens from hazardous work conditions and hold Foxconn accountable for their actions.

The wages and conditions of the work environment are good in relation to other opportunities the citizens of these countries have. Not only do these people now have a job that feeds their families, they are learning skills that may benefit them in the future. The companies may also argue that they are not violating any laws that the country has enacted. Without the use of cheap labor in foreign markets not only would the company and it’s stockholders lose profits, but the products being produced would be more expensive when entering the United States’ market. This in turn would adversely affect the American consumer.

Dexter Roberts and Pete Engardio in “Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops,” writes about the various struggles that the United States has with production factories overseas. Wal-Mart claims they have rules for the sweatshops to follow but China still violates the labor laws by hiring consultants to give tips to sneak around auditors. The American people enjoy their everyday items at a low price, which Wal-Mart demands to the sweatshops. The sweatshops are struggling to provide these low price items to Wal-Mart and keep their working conditions humane. Roberts and Engardio explain in the article how companies that have overseas production are attempting to provide the managers and employees with skills to make the overtime required more effective.

One of the concerns in regards to the outsourcing of jobs is that wages of American jobs versus the wages of the Chinese, Japanese, Indians and Philippians are much less. If these workers were using the same identical technology and having the same identical skills were paid the same wages, there would be no problem. (Greene, 2006) It's also believed that if the US continues to trade freely with the overseas countries then the powerful drag of their far lower wages will

The main goal of a business is to break even, spending about the amount as profits gained, or gain a net profit and expand. While expanding is expensive, companies will attempt to outsource jobs to different countries for a cheaper cost . Outsourcing is an issue for multiple unemployed and employed Americans, where the businesses could be supporting families by creating jobs for those who need them. Flatworld solutions, a company made to help businesses outsource jobs, would argue, “You can get your job done at a lower cost and at better quality as well” (Flatworld). It does lower the cost,

Most companies use this method of outsourcing to save money. There are some positive and negatives to this aspect of outsourcing in the developing nations. The companies are not being fair to their employees internationally. They do not have to provide medical insurance and benefits and they do not have to pay their employees the minimum wage. Several states updated their minimum wage requirement during the last decade. In the year from 2001 to 2003, Hartford and Meriden, Connecticut, Gainesville, Florida, Minneapolis, Burlington, Vermont, all required their city contractors to pay a wage of at least $9 if no benefits are given (McCrate, 2006). The minimum wage appear to be negligible compared with that of the U.S. The foreign companies that are competing with each other for outsourced manufacturing or service jobs are getting even lower wages. Many developing countries do not have a minimum wage requirement for the companies they are working for. United State wage and hour laws have no extraterritorial application. If a US citizen is working in France, then they would not be subject to any state or federal U.S. wage and hour laws. They would be limited to the number of hours they could work like only 35 hours per week in France. The continued abuses by the corporations not only hurt USA workers, our nation as

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd which trades as Foxconn Technology group or as the media calls it Foxconn has been in media limelight recently due to labor problems that have surfaced from the organization. Foxconn is a major equipment manufacturer supplier to electronics giants like Blackberry, Apple, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo Wii. The internet has several articles and controversies regarding the deplorable worker conditions and cases of suicides by the workers.

In the past decade, a pattern has emerged of large corporations choosing to contract their labour to foreign countries in order to remain competitive. However, companies tend to relocate production to the poorest nations where labour is cheap and output is chief. As a result, outsourcing labour has made multinational companies subject to criticism for their immoral practices. This has created the classic ethical debate as to whether it is possible for multinationals to engage in developing nations in both an ethical and lucrative manner. For businesses, the difficulty is if one of these values should be favoured over the other.

Foxconn claims that it is compliant with local laws. But, research studies conducted by SACOM (Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior) have found that Foxconn has been a regular violator of labor laws. Many hidden facts as discussed below are uncovered.

Now let me give some recommendations to solve the identified ethical problem in the Samsung. The first recommendation is the Samsung should provide safety equipages to the employees such as anti-static work wear, masks, protective glasses and so on. This is because Samsung electronics factory and semiconductor factory has many hazardous substances and radiation, employees need to work in the factory every day up to 12 hours or even to work overtime. Besides, semiconductor chip process requires the use of a variety of chemicals, such as using sulphuric acid to clean it, wet etching need to use hydrofluoric acid and other liquid chemicals, vapour deposition process will also use a variety of gases. Most chemicals if it random emissions

Traits associated to a psychopath include irresponsibility, manipulation, grandioseness, lack of empathy, asocial tendencies, inability to feel remorse, refusal to take responsibility for one's actions and superficial relations with others. Modern day corporations display every one of the previously listed characteristics. Is it right that an institution, whose power now rivals that of the State that once created it to seek the better welfare of its citizens, display the psychological traits of a dangerous personality disorder? Many say no: there is a rising discomfort with the corporation and its pervasion into every sphere of human life and it is this uneasiness that has prompted many academics to further study the corporation and its

Business ethics, social, and environmental guidelines frame the expectations of an organization's stakeholders including customers, employees, and regulatory bodies. An organization's ethical guidelines encompass how the organization and its employees embody ethical principles in their dealings, with each other, and other stakeholders. Therefore, Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Farrell (2008) have defined Business ethics as "The principles and standards that guide behavior in the world of business" (p.6). In many situations, individuals must incorporate their personal ethics to match those of the organization's ethical culture. For this reason, business ethics theory indicates that an organization's ethics are evident in its organizational mission and vision (Hummels & Timmer, 2004). This is because the mission and vision determine organizational structure and culture, and thereby organizational and individual behavior.